Brown-crested Flycatcher - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Leslie
Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, Texas, April 2004

Myiarchus tyrannulus

Includes Wied's Crested Flycatcher

Identification

Photo © by costaricafinca
Guanacaste, Costa Rica, November 2008

19cm

• Olive-brown upperparts
• Yellow underparts
• Pale grey throat and breast
• Short dark crest
• Pale wing bars
• Primaries edged rufous but secondaries edged lemon-yellow
• Brown tail (rufous on inner webs usually visible from underside of tail)
• Large, dark bill
  

Sexes similar

Similar Species

Ash-throated Flycatcher, and especially in southern Mexico, Dusky-capped Flycatcher and Yucatan Flycatcher

Distribution

Southwestern United States in southeastern corner of California, most of Arizona and southern Texas; also rare in Nevada and Utah south to northern Argentina, Brazil and the Guianas.

Casual to rare vagrant in Louisiana and Florida.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

This is a polytypic species which consists of 7 subspecies:

• M. t. magister: Wied's Crested Flycatcher^[2]

• South-western US through western Mexico to Oaxaca; Tres Marías Islands

• M. t. cooperi:

• Southern Texas through eastern Mexico to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras

• M. t. cozumelae:

• Cozumel Island (off Yucatán Peninsula of eastern Mexico)

• M. t. insularum:

• Utila, Roatán and Bonaca islands (off Honduras)

• M. t. brachyurus:

• Pacific coast of El Salvador to north-western Costa Rica

• M. t. tyrannulus:

• Eastern Colombia to the Guianas, northern Argentina and northern Brazil; Trinidad

• M. t. bahiae:

• Northern and eastern Brazil (Amapá to São Paulo) and north-eastern Argentina

An additional subspecies M.T. nelsoni is generally considered invalid ^[2]

Habitat

Riparian woodlands, saguaro cactus desert, dry forest and gardens.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects and fruit.

Breeding

It builds its nest in a tree cavity. The clutch consists of 2-3 purple-marked cream eggs.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown-crested Flycatcher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown-crested_Flycatcher

External Links

Search for photos of Brown-crested Flycatcher in the gallery